The present disclosure relates to an inverter/charger integrated device which charges a battery for supplying driving power to a motor provided to a vehicle and includes an inverter for driving a three-phase motor, and a method for controlling the same.
An electric vehicle typically includes a high-voltage battery, a three-phase motor, and an inverter.
The high-voltage battery may be charged with a high voltage of about 720V.
The three-phase motor may drive the electric vehicle by using the power charged in the high-voltage battery.
The inverter may drive the three-phase motor.
That is, it may be limited according to a capacity of the high-voltage battery to drive the three-phase motor by using the power charged in the high-voltage battery.
When the power remaining in the high-voltage battery of the electric vehicle is lower than a predetermined level, the three-phase motor may not be driven any more. Therefore, the electric vehicle may be provided with a high-voltage charger to charge the high-voltage battery. This high-voltage charger may be classified into a slow charger using household single-phase AC power and a high-speed charger using three-phase power for power transmission and distribution.
Further, the electric vehicle includes, besides the three-phase motor, various loads such as electronic devices and lighting devices consuming low power of about 12V. A low-voltage battery may be installed to operate the loads consuming low power, and a low-voltage charger for charging the low-voltage battery may be provided.
The inverter, the high-voltage charger, and the low-voltage charger are separated from each other. Therefore, it takes a lot of time and effort to design the inverter, the high-voltage charger, and the low-voltage charger so as to be suitably installed in the electric vehicle.